In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

July 7, 2010James Keller, Vancouver — The Canadian PressThe Globe and Mail

A public inquiry report that concluded a Taser jolt carries a small risk of death is entirely supported by the evidence and is actually confirmed by the “fine print” the company now attaches to its weapons, the B.C. government argued Tuesday as it defended the inquiry's findings in court.

Taser International is challenging the first report into the death of Robert Dziekanski, arguing commissioner Thomas Braidwood treated the company unfairly and then reached conclusions that weren't supported by the facts.

But a lawyer for B.C.’s attorney-general told a judge Tuesday the conclusion that a shock from a Taser has the capacity to affect the heart is confirmed by a training bulletin issued by the company last September — two months after the report's release.

The document, which received wide media coverage and prompted police forces across Canada to adjust their policies, recommended the devices be aimed away from the heart to “avoid the remote potential risk of cardiac effect.”

“This is what Taser says in the fine print,” B.C. government lawyer Craig Jones told a B.C. Supreme Court judge.

“And I'll show you that it's virtually identical to what commissioner Braidwood said. The difference is that commissioner Braidwood said it in plain spoken language and broadcast [it] more loudly.”

Mr. Braidwood's report, released last year, was the first of two from a public inquiry called after Mr. Dziekanski's death in October 2007, when he was confronted by RCMP officers at Vancouver's airport and stunned several times with a Taser.

Mr. Braidwood heard presentations in 2008 during several weeks of hearings examining the use of Tasers in B.C. and their safety.

In the end, he concluded a jolt from a Taser has the capacity to kill a person by causing a fatal heart arrhythmia, particularly when the weapon is used multiple times.

The report prompted Taser to ask a court to throw out all of Mr. Braidwood's findings about the safety of the stun guns and his subsequent recommendations, claiming the retired judge ignored dozens of medical studies provided by the company.

Taser also argues it should have had greater participation in the hearings and had a chance to review Mr. Braidwood's findings and respond before they were made public.

On Tuesday, Mr. Jones only spent a few minutes speaking to the judge before court finished for the day, but in written submissions, he rejected all of Taser's arguments.

Taser failed to prove Mr. Braidwood ignored any of the company's evidence, wrote Mr. Jones, and Taser's extensive participation was over and above what it was entitled to.

“The courtesies and accommodations extended to Taser — which was, in sheer volume of submissions, easily the most-prominent presenter — were extraordinary,” wrote Mr. Jones .

“For Taser to now [claim it wasn't afforded enough rights] seems not only wildly inappropriate legally speaking, but also incongruous with all the facts Taser itself asserts.”

Earlier in the day, the judge in the case asked Taser why its extensive involvement in the hearings wasn't enough to defend the stun gun.

Judge Robert Sewell noted the company's co-founder and several of its own experts appeared before the hearings in 2008, and they would have known other presenters had told Mr. Braidwood that Tasers pose safety risks.

“The petitioner in this case was well aware that one of the subject matters of the inquiry was the safety of Tasers, and, in fact, the petitioner in this case was given ample opportunity to appear before the commission and make submissions with respect to that question,” Judge Sewell told Taser lawyer David Neave.

“Wasn't he [Taser co-founder Thomas Smith] aware that presenters had made presentations to the commissioner that there was some indication [that Tasers could cause death]?”

The company couldn't have predicted Mr. Braidwood would conclude Tasers could be fatal because, Mr. Neave replied, none of the evidence presented at the inquiry supported that finding.

“Taser had no basis to believe that the commissioner would reach those findings,” said Mr. Neave. “Taser was entitled to notice.”

Taser claims the report has hurt its business around the world, citing it as the reason the company lost a multimillion-dollar contract in Africa earlier this year.

Mr. Braidwood's second report, examining Mr. Dziekanski's death in detail, was released last month.

That document chided the four RCMP officers involved in the man's death for using too much force and concluded the multiple Taser stuns likely played the greatest role in his death.

No comments:

We're on Twitter!

taser-Related Deaths = 1007+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to Amnesty International, the taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 60 of them. That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

Search This Blog

Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

EDITORIALS

NAVIGATING THIS SITE

This blog, which contains more than 3,000 posts, is broken down into 50 posts per page. When you reach the bottom of the last post on a page, click on "Older Posts" to see earlier posts, chronologically.

To return to the main page (and the NEWEST post) at any time, click here.

To see all posts on a specific topic, please see the "Categories of Interest" list below. To search for a specific name, word or term, use the "Search This Blog" feature at the top of this column, powered by Google.

My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

to contact us

If you wish to contact us, please leave a message ("private" or otherwise) on the guestbook (see below), including your e-mail address.

2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."